In a game of Texas Hold'em, all 5 community cards are dealt, and the three remaining players simultaneously say, "Well, there's only one hand that can beat me."

How can this situation arise? Assume that the players do not lie.

Here, "one hand" means a unique combination of 2 cards, out of the (52 choose 2) = 1326 possible ones.

For those unfamiliar with the basic rules of Texas Hold'em: each player has two face down cards, and there are five face up cards on the table. Each player makes the best possible 5-card poker hand using any of the 5 community cards and his 2 private cards.

(In reply to re: Solution (Second Try!) w/ my solution by Kardo)

I disagree; my (second) solution is correct. A player with an A,4 is not beat by A,5-K. In that case both hands are tied with a AAAKK full house (the 4 and the 5-K cards are never used).  y

You might play with different rules than the official ones, looking at the 6th or 7th cards in case of a tie...?

I don't know if your soultion is considered "topologically separate" from mine. I wonder if the second solution is still at large....

Posted by ajosin on 2005-04-12 15:21:48